DR 650 SE Home-made pannier rack
 

I've put some pictures of our pannier racks
on our site: http://beddha.free.fr/DR650SE/Pannie...humbnails.html

No words as yet, haven't figured out how to add captions.

The exhaust was in the way, so has been replaced wth a Supertrapp on my partner's DR (a much louder Laser on my bike, otherwise almost identical). Panniers are held on by hinges. The rod that goes thru them can be pulled out to release them. When the panniers are locked the rod can't be removed, making it a one key system.

Ciao, Peter.


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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

Looks like an excellent set up. A couple of questions.

Are the panniers attached at the bottom? It looks like there is some kind of lip at the bootom of them that rests on the lower part of the rack.

DO you think the solid steel weighs significantly more a tubular rack would?

Did you make the panniers as well - or did they come from a manufacturer?

Many thanks for this great contribution.


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Richb
http://www.postmaster.co.uk/~richardbeaumont/60684/

Depends on your definition of "attached". In the shot taken from the rear left you can see Three lugs sticking up. They hold the lower part of the pannier in place, so it can't slide off. They would flap like wings, otherwise.

All panniers I have seen have this "lip", being a thick alu frame going right around the base, providing most of the strength.

I suspect a tubular frame would be lighter, and certainly stronger laterally, but I can't bend pipes.

The panniers are from Off-The-Road

That's where I got the idea for the fixing system, too.

I'm very happy with them and you couldn't make them yourself for that money.

I can't recommend their locks, though: JUNK.

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

swingarm clearance
 

First, my apologies, as your pics were the ones I referenced in my forum post. Have you had any issues with swingarm clearance by having the exhaust routed out the side by the footrest bracket? I was just wondering if it would be worth it to route the header under the right footpeg and switch to a brake lever similar to what is on an Enfield. Is there somewhere that you have all the mods to your bike(s) listed and the supliers? Like that huge acerbis tank on the one with supertrapp exhaust, which tank is it, I don't recall seeing one that large listed for the 650.

> my apologies, as your pics were the ones I referenced in my forum post.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you are referring to here?

I had to be very carefull with the exhaust header pipe. At one point the brake hose holder touched the pipe, but no damage done. I have done about 70000km with this setup and no trouble here.

I considered putting the pipe under the peg, but the DR is so tightly built, there just isn't any room anywhere that I could find. I don't know the Enfield lever, so can't comment. But I think you will get your boot onto the pipe when braking, which isn't a good idea.

No, there isn't a list of mods. I modified two bikes, both very similar, obviously. One tank I bought with a bracket from a German supplier, complete with mouting brackets. The tank is for the older model DR's and the dealer made up instructions on how to shoehorn it onto the SE. You can find more info here: Index of /DR650SE/TankAdapter The dealer isn't making the adapter any more. The 2nd tank I bought used off Ebay and built my own front brackets from flat steel. It came with a rear bracket.

I believe the 25l tank is still available from Acerbis.

The Supertrapp on my ex-girlfriend's bike works really well. The one on mine was for a different bike and doesn't work well at all.

I cheap-skated and changed the rear spring only to one from Wirth. The original is way too soft for two-up or luggage. The damping is too soft, but I can live with that, rather than fork out 500 Euro for a new shock. Front suspension is standard and works well enough for me.

I installed a power socket and hot grips.

Chain size is changed to 520 and rear sprocket 46 teeth. I have a spare 14 tooth front sprocket for difficult terrain, but haven't used it yet. I get my chain kits and other modified parts from Hessler Motorsport Hessler RT Online-Shop.

I found the rear brake pads wore rapidly, about 2 sets per rear tyre. The disc also wore fast and was replaced by a disc from EBC. Better braking and the pads last longer.

The next mod will be an improved chain guard, after dirt and water in Yemen wore away the chain prematurely. The stock chain guard is a bad joke, as it doesn't shield the chain from the tyre. I should have done this before I left and I might have gotten to see more of Oman.

The seat was modified by an upholsterer in France to remove the forward slope and make it wider.

There is your list of mods. ;)

Cheers,
Peter.

PS: the panniers like this are no longer available from Off-The-Road.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the list Peter, and sorry for the confusion about my post. If you look at the front page for Suzuki tech I posted about lowering exhaust and it referenced your post pics. Still curious if you have an opinion about routing the header pipe out the left side and avoiding the brake set-up altogether.

No idea about the exhaust beyond what I stated above. It doesn't look feasible to me, but in any case, my setup works and puts the exhaust out of the way. The major problem I have found is finding a straight silencer for this bike. Mine doesn't work well, i.e. very loud. All the accessory silencers I have seen are curved and so won't fit under the pannier. If you can find the correct Supertrapp then that works well. No hope in Germany.